Vehicle-wheel.



J. G. EUBANK & G. P. BARNETT. VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5. 1911.

1,040,178. v Patented 0t.1,1912.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

J. 0. EUBANK & 0. P. BARNETT.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 5, 1911.

3 SHEBTSTSHEET 2.

i N m; I w m $01 mum. PLANuGRAPM'cD" WASHINGTON. D c.

' Patented 0 t.1,1912.

J. C. EUBANK & G. P. BARNETT.

VEHICLE WHEEL.

APPLICATION FILED JUNBG, 1911. 1,040,178. Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

3 SHEETSSHEBT 3.

7 01/11/11 Vl/l/l/l/I/I/A W/fnesses COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH co., WASHINGTON,D. c.

UNITED STATES 1 PATENT OFFICE.

JUDSON c. EUBANK AND cam. P. Br an-Earner KANSAS cITY, ivrr'ssormr.

VEHICLE-WHEEL.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 1, 1912.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JUDSON O. EUBANK and CARL P. BARNETT, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Kansas City, in the county of Jackson andState of Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Im provements inVehicle-Wheels, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention relates to improvements in vehicle wheels, and ourobject-is to provide a pneumatic cushioned wheel of simple, durable, andeflicient construction especially adapted for use upon automobiles inwhich the pneumatic tube, while free to eflioiently cushion the Wheeland vehicle supported thereby, is protected from puncture, in which thepneumatic tube may be readily removed and replaced, and in which thewheel can be run without injury to said tube, although the same shouldbe deflated. A further object of the invention is to provide a novelclutch to cooperate with our improved wheel in propelling the vehicle,said clutch being in positive operation at all times, whether the wheelbe running forward or backward, and thus relieving the pneumatic tube ofall driving strain to which it Would otherwise be subjected.

Other objects of the invent-ion will hereinafter he pointed out, and inorder that said invention may be fully understood, reference will now bemade to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 shows a side elevation of our improved wheel. Fig. 2 is asection on line IIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail sideelevation of the clutch forming an important feature of the invention.Fig.4 is a vertical cross section on line IVIV of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is aside elevation of a pair of antifrictional rollers forming part of theclutch. Fig. 6 is a vertical crosslsection on line VI-VI of Fig. 5. Fig.7 is'a front elevation of the antifriction rollers. Fig. 8 is a detailsection on line VIII-VIII of Fig. 1. Fig. 9 is a vertical cross sectionof a modified form of our improved wheel. Fig. 10 is a detail sideelevation of the clutch, embodied in the modified form of wheel. Fig. 11is a vertical cross section on line XI-XI of Fig. 10.

Referring particularly to the preferred form disclosed by Figs. 1 to 8,inclusive, of

the drawings, 1 designates a driven axle keyed to hub 2 of the wheel,and journaled in the customary antifriction bearings, each of whichcomprises rollers 3, and a casing 4.

5 designates. the customary brake-drum for checking the wheel.

6 designates the tire, which may consist of rubber, rawhide,composition, or other suitable material, and is secured to rim 7 by aflanged ring 7*. i

8 designates the spokes, which are secured to rim 7 and a spoke-ring 9carrying at its inner side a concave seat SP, for the outer periphery ofpneumatic tube 10, the inner side of which is supported by a concaveseat 12, secured to a disk 12, fixedly-secured to hub 2 and the adjacentmember 14; of the drive-clutch, by cap-screws 12 Clutchmember 14, isfurther secured to disk 12 by a plurality of rivets 22. Pneumatic tube10 is provided with the customary valve 10*, through which it may beinflated or deflated.

11 designates a convex annular shield to protect the adjacent side ofthe pneumatic tube from injury, said shield being removably-secured tothe spoke-rim 9, by a plurality of bolts 11 and slidably-engaging the'adjacent side of disk 12, so that it may move independently thereof toallow compression of the pneumatic tube when the wheel passes over anobstruction.

13 designates a convex annular shield to protect the other side of thepneumatic tube 10, and rigidly connect the spoke-rim 9 to theintermediate clutch-member 18. Clutch-memher 18 is interposed betweenthe two outer clutch-members 14: and 16, which have central openings, sothat they may move longitudinally-independently of clutch-member 14,without contacting with a spacing-sleeve 17", hereinafter referred to.To permit of the longitudinal movement, just referred to, clutch-member14 has a plurality of equallyspaced slots 15, (Figs. 3 and 4) in whichone set of antifriction rollers 19 are adapted to travel, said rollersbeing mounted upon anti- .friction balls 21, carried bystub-shafts 2Oprojectinglaterally from clutch-member 16 to which they are riveted. Inorder that engaging rollers 19*.

clutch-member 18 may at times move longitudinally-independently ofclutch-member 16, said clutch-member 18 is provided with slots 15extending transversely to slots 15,

displacement by disk 12, and a disk 17, and

packing rings 23 are interposed between the clutch-members and betweenclutch-member 16 and disk 17, to retain .alubricant to reduce the wearincident to the longitudinal movement of the clutch-members. Disk 17 isfirmly secured to disk 12 by rivets 17*, which pass through thespacing-sleeve 17 surrounding hub 2 and interposed between clutch-member14 and disk 17 to reinforce the same and prevent the clutch-members frombeing drawn too tightly together by the rivets 17 Disk 17 and brake-drum5 are firmly secured together by cap-screws 5".

In practice the clutch constitutes a yielding medium between hub 2 andtire 6, so that when said tire strikes an obstruction it may pass upwardover the same and trans mit the shock incident thereto to the pneumatictube 10 instead of to the hub and the vehicle. Althoughthe clutch isfree to yield and permit compression of tube 10 when the wheel passesover an obstruction, said clutch is always in positive engagementwhether the wheel be running forward or backward and thus relieves saidtube of all driving strain. For instance, when slots 15 are in thevertical position shown in Fig. 3, clutch-members 16 and 18 are free tomove vertically-independently of clutch-member 14, but at the same timeare driven by said clutch-member 14the clutch-member 16 being driventhrough the intermediacy of the sides of the uppermost and lowermostslots 15, and the uppermost and lowermost rollers 19-while clutch-member18 is driven through the intermediacy of the sides of the twointermediate slots 15 and the two When the wheel revolves a quarter of arevolution and thus brings slots 15 to vertical position, theintermediate clutch-member 18 is free to move vertically-independentlyof its companion 'elutch-members, and is driven through the intermediacyof the sides of the, then uppermost and lowermost, slots 15* and the twoengaging rollers 19 When the slots 15 and 15 are brought to an obliqueposition through the rotation of the wheel, c1utch-members'16 and 18'arerboth free to move vertically-independently of the clutchmember 14.From the foregoing it will be understood that the intermediateclutchmember. 18, which is rigidly-connected to tire 6 through theintermediate parts, is free to move vertically with said tire whenpassing over an obstruction without moving the clutch-member 14, whichis rigidly connected to the hub-2 through the intermediacy of disk 12and the cap-screws 5. Should a hole occur in the pneumatic tube 10 andpermit the same to become deflated, the clutch will properly perform itsfunction of propelling the wheel without transmitting any strain to thepneumatic tube, the latter, however, can be. readily removed for repairswhen deflated by taking oil the shield 11. The distance between disks 12and 17 equals the width of the standard spoke, hence in substituting ourimproved wheel for a standard wheel, the hub and brake mechanism of thelatter can be retained, thus materially reducing the cost of equippingan automobile with our improved wheels.

Our modified form of wheels shown by Figs. 9 to 11, inclusive, issubstantially identical in construction and operation as the preferredform, except that the slots 15 and 15, the antifriction rollers 19 and19?, and the stub-shafts 20 are dispensed withthe clutch-members 14 18and 16, being operatively connected by dovetailed tongues 29 and 30 onmembers 16 and 18 respectively, slidingly-arranged in correspondinggrooves in members 14" and 18. This construction further differs fromthe preferred form in that the outer clutch-member 16 is secured toshield 18, instead of the intermediate clutch-member, as in thepreferred form.

Having thus described our invention what we claim and desire to secureby Letters Patent, is:

1. In combination with a hub and rim and a pneumatic tube therebetween,a clutch consisting of three elements, one of said elements beingrigidly connected to the hub, another of said elements being rigidlyconnected to the rim, and the third of said elements being locatedbetween the first two, two of said elements having elongated slots, theslots of one of said last named elements being disposed at right anglesto the slots of the other of said last named elements, and a stub shaftcarried by the third element and having a pair of antifriction rollersthereon arranged in side by side relation that engage in each of the"respective adjacent slots of said slotted elements.

2. In combination with a hub, a disk mounted on the hub, and formed witha peripheral seat, a pneumatic tire in said seat, a ring encircling thetire, a clutch member mounted on the hub and abutting said disk,

means to rigidly connect the disk and clutch member to the hub, anintermediate clutch member mounted on the hub, a third clutch membermounted on the hub and engagin the intermediate clutch member, saidthird and intermediate clutch members having In testimony whereof Weaifix our signamovable connections that are at right angles tures, inthe presence of two Witnesses.

to each other, an annular shield connected to one side of the ring andextending partly I over said disk, a second annular shield connected tothe opposite side of the ring and Witnesses:

rigidly connected to the intermediate clutch WALTER C. RIGGIN,

member, and a tire carried by said ring. F. FISCHER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

